"I think I'm close to getting my shield ," Octavia commented as she and Clarke stood in line at the local coffee shop. "You really helped me out, thank you."
"Any time, O." Clarke assured. "And it's good that you're close to getting your badge, you deserve it. Detective Blake," Clarke hummed with a little grin. "That almost makes me want to sleep with you."
"We both know you only have eyes for one detective." Octavia shot back with a smirk.
"Oh, bite me."
"Look me in the eyes and tell me you wouldn't sleep with Lexa." Octavia challenged and Clarke shrugged.
"I can't but, to be fair, there isn't a lot of people I wouldn't sleep with." Clarke reasoned. "Hell, I would even hate fuck Murphy."
Octavia laughed at that, "I mean, true, but you spent all night with her the other night."
"Going over a case. I like Lexa, she's nice, and I almost definitely wouldn't say no if she wanted to sleep with me, but that's all there is to it."
"For now,"
"Maybe," Clarke shrugged, "but right now it's entirely professional, with a hint of I wouldn't say no if she asked."
Clarke stepped forward to order their drinks, gaining a raised eyebrow from Octavia when she ordered three drinks.
"Taking your girlfriend a coffee at work, huh?"
"You're not?" Clarke arched her eyebrow challengingly at Octavia, daring her to argue that she and Raven weren't dating.
"About that," Octavia laughed, somewhat nervously. "So, Raven and I-"
"I know you loser." Clarke laughed, gently shoving Octavia. "It's been a long time coming."
"Yeah. Yeah, it has."
Lexa was at her desk when Clarke got to the precinct, her head in her hand, her fingers wrapped around her hair.
She pulled her eyes away from the papers she was looking at when Clarke sat the take away coffee cup down on the desk, her eyes lingering on the cup before she looked up at Clarke.
"Is that for me?"
"No, I just put it on your desk for Kane to pick up later." Clarke teased, her lips pulling up into a grin when Lexa rolled her eyes. "'Course it's for you."
"Thank you,"
Clarke shrugged. "I know you're working hard on the Maniac case, I wish I could help but I'm a little backed up."
"No, it's not your case. Don't worry about it."
"Good luck, okay?" Clarke flashed Lexa a little smile before heading off toward her lab.
There was a brutal murder the following weekend. Not a manic case but Lexa was put on it.
The lady was beaten to death, her face unrecognisable and her dental records useless so they had to use her fingerprint to identify her. And of course the only witness was a petrified five year old.
Clarke was midway through going over crime scene photos from a different crime when her door opened and slammed closed.
She frowned, turning to see who it was only to see the little girl, Ellie Lexa had told her, with her back against her door and her knees pulled tightly against her chest.
Clarke placed her photos back on her desk and slowly walked over to the young girl.
She sat down beside her, wrapping her arms around her knees and resting her chin on her arm, exactly like the little girl was.
"My name's Clarke." Clarke offered, side eyeing the girl. "You are Ellie, right?"
The little girl nodded but didn't look at Clarke. Clarke knew Lexa and the little girls mother were probably watching through the window.
"I know you are afraid, I would be too. What you saw, it was horrible, what happened to that lady was horrible, and I know we shouldn't be asking this of you, but we really need your help."
"My help?" The girl frowned.
"Yeah, you could put a very bad man in jail."
"Like superheroes do?"
"Exactly like superheroes do. But you would be better than that. You don't have superpowers but you would be facing something you are afraid of, being brave in order to protect other people." Clarke smiled, giving the young girls arm a little tap with her elbow. "Now, I don't know about you, kiddo, but to me that is the definition of a hero."
"But what if he hurts me, too?" The girl asked unsurely, twisting the bottom of her shirt around her fingers.
"I won't let that happen," Clarke swore. "And I know Detective Woods won't either. If I tell you something do you promise not to tell anyone?" Ellie nodded slowly, waiting for Clarke to continue. "Detective Woods is kind of a superhero."
Ellie's eyes sprung open in surprise as her head whipped around to the door. "No,"
"Yeah, like batman. She doesn't have a superpower but she will do everything she can to protect people." Clarke explained to the stunned young girl. "And she is really nice, would you mind coming to talk to her?"
"Will you stay with me?"
"Of course," Clarke smiled, standing up and holding her hand out to the five year old who gingerly took it.
Clarke ushered the young girl back over to Lexa's deck, crouching down beside the girls chair as she climbed up beside her mom.
'Thank you' Lexa mouthed to her.
Clarke shook her head, giving Ellie a little smile when she looked down at her.
Now, Clarke wasn't squeamish, she worked with blood, guts and brains for a living, but listening to the young kid describe a crime so horrific that it would easily traumatise any adult human made her feel physically sick.
But she done well, giving Lexa everything she needed to build a good case and described the man well enough for Clarke to compile a pretty decent drawing of him.
"Look, kiddo," Clarke started, crouching down beside the young girl as they waiting to the elevator. "That man is a very bad man, and it's understandable to be afraid that everyone may be like that but I can promise you that for every bad man or woman like that there are ten good men and women like Detective Woods and your mommy who will protect you."
"Will you catch him?"
"Oh, no doubt." Clarke assured. "Remember I told you that secret about detective Woods? She is also the best detective on the whole entire planet."
Ellie nodded, reaching up to take her mom's hand when the doors to the elevator opened.
"Thank you so much for that," Lexa sighed when the doors closed behind the girl and her mother, her shoulders sagging out of sheer exhaustion.
"Sure, no problem, I'm really good with kids." Clarke shrugged, leading Lexa back into the main section of the precinct. "My mom says it's 'cause I still act like a kid myself."
"And what was the secret you told her about me?"
"If I told you I'd have to kill you," Clarke turned to look at Lexa as she back-pedalled toward her lab, a tired little smile on her lips. "Now, I need to go take a break because that emotionally drained me."
"Yeah," Lexa sighed, falling into her chair, picking up the drawing Clarke had done. "I didn't know you could draw."
"It was a hobby in high school."
"It's really good, it will really help."
Clarke smiled at the compliment, "Glad I could help,"
It was two days later that the Maniac struck again and Clarke had only just heard about it when Lexa came barging into her lab.
"Can I talk to you?" Lexa asked as she rushed into Clarke's lab, pulling the blinds shut, effectively closing them off to the rest of the floor.
"Hello to you too, detective." Clarke grumbled, looking over the ballistics photos of a local shooting
"You are the only person I feel like I can talk to about this." Lexa explained. "I can trust you, right?"
Clarke's usual playful demeanour dropped into a look of concern. "What's going on? Are you okay?" She asked, setting the photos down on her desk.
"Evidence went missing. The recent Maniac killing, I was at the crime scene and I saw the evidence with my own eyes but it never made it to lock up."
A look of realisation crossed Clarke's face as she slowly stood. "Of course, they work in law enforcement."
"I was kind of hoping you would tell me I was being ridiculous." Lexa huffed, digging her hand into her hair. "Who the fuck am I supposed to go to with this?"
"No one, not yet." Clarke stressed, giving Lexa's bicep a little squeeze. "We'll figure it out, get a solid answer before we talk to anyone."
"I have to tell someone. Kane."
"And what if it's him? Even if it isn't that's a good way to get yourself isolated and potentially hurt." Clarke said. "We will figure out who it is, how couldn't we? We have the combined brain power of a literal genus and the best detective in New York."
A little smile pulled its way onto Lexa's lips at that and Clarke sighed, really taking the woman in for the first time.
"When was the last time you got more than a few hours sleep?" Clarke frowned. "Have you even been home in the past week?"
"Of course I have, I've changed, haven't I?"
"Lexa, go home. You're going to make yourself sick."
"Do you honestly think I'm going to be able to sleep now, after this?" Lexa huffed, running her hand through her hair.
"I'll help you out but you need to look after yourself." Clarke had a concerned tone to her voice as she took a step closer to Lexa. "Those people out there don't like me, if they find out I'm looking into them for this its just more water under the bridge. But they could make your life really difficult, so I will do some research and get back to you if and when I find something."
"I can't let you bare the brunt of this,"
"You won't. I'm clever enough not to get caught." Clarke assured with a little smile. "Go work on something else and I will figure this out."
"What if it's someone we are close too, someone we thought was our friend."
"I mean, that happens. The Flash was betrayed by his mentor who also turned out to be his mortal enemy from hundreds of years in the future." It was supposed to be reassuring, it kind of was to Clarke, and judging from the soft smile on Lexa's face it was somewhat comforting to her, too. "But that's just a TV show."
"I'm glad I came to you with this," Lexa confessed. "You have this way of making me feel better."
"You can trust me with anything, Lexa."
"Yeah, I'm starting to realise that." Clarke's lips pulled into an almost shy smile at Lexa's words, nodding when Lexa gave her arm a little. "Let me know, yeah?"
"As soon as I find anything."
Lexa left after that, sitting down at her desk but it was obvious to anyone that she wasn't really doing any work. Clarke went to work straight away on finding out whatever she could on the Manic.